Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Hall Sues McRaven

In an exceedingly rare if not unprecedented development, a University of Texas System regent has sued the system’s chancellor over access to records.

Regent Wallace L. Hall Jr. of Dallas sued Chancellor Bill McRaven in state district court in Travis County in an effort to obtain records, including confidential student information, of an investigation into favoritism in admissions at the Austin campus.

McRaven said in a statement late Tuesday that he regrets Hall believes a lawsuit is necessary or appropriate.

The lawsuit does not come as a surprise. State Attorney General Ken Paxton said last week that the UT System should turn over the disputed records to Hall and that the regent was entitled to sue if the system refused.

Hall wants to see emails, interview notes and other materials from a months-long investigation into admissions practices by Kroll Associates Inc. The company found that then-UT President Bill Powers sometimes ordered students admitted, despite subpar academic records, after they had been touted by legislators, regents, donors and other influential people.